Drug dealer Shashikala Patankar had initially promised to pay Rs 25 lakh to Mumbai police constable and boyfriend Dharmaraj Kalokhe for keeping her 112-kg stash of Mephedrone at his Satara residence, but tipped off the police about it, after he repeatedly started asking for the amount, said investigators.

Drug dealer Shashikala Patankar had initially promised to pay Rs 25 lakh to Mumbai police constable and boyfriend Dharmaraj Kalokhe for keeping her 112-kg stash of Mephedrone at his Satara residence, but tipped off the police about it, after he repeatedly started asking for the amount, said investigators. Kalokhe was arrested in the case on March 9.

According to sources, Patankar had been running her business successfully for the past 15 years, evading arrest using her contacts at police stations. However, two instances — a fresh case against her at the Worli police station in December 2014 and the inclusion of Mephedrone in the category of banned drugs — left her shocked, which is why she depended on Kalokhe to hide the stash.

“Patankar had got the drug, probably at the production cost of Rs 10-12 lakh, to the city by travelling on state transport buses. Only her close associates were aware of the source of the drug. Initially, Patankar kept the contraband at her Worli residence, but later decided to move it to Kalokhe’s house in Satara,” said an officer.

But soon, Patankar started suspecting that the constable was selling the drug, without her knowledge and without sharing the profit with her. She also suspected that he was getting close to one of her women relatives. With all these factors, in addition to his repeated demand for money, in mind, Patankar decided to set up a trap similar to what she allegedly did in the case of a deputy superintendent of police in 2011, a source said.

“Kalokhe needed the money to construct a building on his plot in Pune. He had paid Rs 1.5 lakh to a contractor, name Shelke, who was carrying out the work on the site,” said an officer.